Design Interview: Sally and Andrew Brunger
Sally and Andrew Brunger KolDesign
By Marie Redding, Senior EditorThe Brungers are a talented couple. Sally is an artist and graphic designer, while Andrew's expertise is in creating marketing plans and branding strategies for various companies.
In the spring of 2002, they came up with the idea to create a bath line based on travel destinations around the world--and the scent of each place--and called the new company KolDesign. They began with their own original recipes for different products and then hired chemists to reformulate them to ensure that the line would meet regulations and compliancy rules for a number of different countries. Last September, the line was launched in the couple's hometown, New York City, at Henri Bendel.
"We were always buying bath salts, in bulk, just for ourselves. We were adding different essential oils because we could never find scents that we liked in stores," says Sally.
All of the bath salts, facials, and scrubs were created in the Brungers' small studio apartment, and the formulas are all unique. Sold as dry mixtures, the products are meant to be doled out in small amounts and mixed with warm water. A spatula is included in each can.
"You can't use warm water with something premixed. [Formulas have] a nicer feeling on the skin when they're freshly mixed with warm water," says Sally.
Sally worked with a clay supplier and chose multani mitti as the main ingredient for the facial mask called Kolayan. Men and women in India have used it as a facial for centuries. When this raw material is not being used in cosmetics, it is used to scrub the Taj Mahal. "Its cleansing properties are unbelievable," says Sally.
For Andrew, Tuscany holds fond memories, so he wanted to recreate its scent in a facial scrub. He remembered the different smells of places in the region and found natural herbs to match his recollection. Arenal, a volcano in Costa Rica, inspired another facial product. "It fizzes when you add water to it, to enhance the whole volcanic experience," says Sally.
The couple's love of architecture inspired the packages' industrial look. Sally explains, "We always liked the look of metal and knew it would appeal to both men and women. The Leverhouse building on Park Avenue and 53rd Street is our favorite. It has a clean look of metal and glass, and it marked the introduction of modern architectural design in the United States."
Searching for suppliers was difficult, because they found a lot of the stock packaging was too feminine or overdesigned and didn't fit with the image they had in mind.
"We looked in unusual places—from industrial packaging houses to biological suppliers. Only the PET bottles and tops are from a classic cosmetic packaging supplier," says Sally. The aluminum canisters are by Freund Packaging (Aslip, IL). The clear PET bottles have aluminum caps supplied by Europack.
A silver metal rack holding test tubes with aluminum tops are on counters at Henri Bendel's, for customers to try the scents. KSE Scientific supplies these packages.
Their own small warehouse is filled with backup stock because, Sally says, "we want to be able to fill an order in a pinch, but we also use it for small boutique orders." Larger orders are completed by several manufacturers in three different states. Each manufacturer produces the formula, filling, packaging, and automated labeling.
The Brungers credit the Internet with helping get their business started. "I think a lot of small companies wouldn't exist without it--we found everything we needed through Google," says Sally.